William Berkeley (Virginia governor)
'William Berkeley '(1605 - July 9, 1677) was a colonial governor of Virginia, and one of the Lords Proprietor of the Colony of Carolina, appointed by King Charles II of England, of whom he was a favorite. As proprietor of Green Spring Plantation in James City County, he experimented with activities, such as growing silkworms as part of his efforts to expand the tobacco-based economy. He enacted friendly policies toward the Native Americans that led to the revolt by some of the planters in 1676, which became known as Bacon's Rebellion. Berkeley was born in 1605 in Bruton, England as the son of Sir Maurice Berkeley and Elizabeth Killigrew, both of whom held stock in the Virginia Company of London. Though his father died in debt, Berkeley secured a proper education and entered Oxford in 1623. In 1632, he gained a place in the household of Charles I, which gave him entre into a court literary circle. Berkeley wrote several plays and soldiering in the First and Second Bishops' Wars (1639-40) gained him knighthood. He replaced Sir Francis Wyatt as Governor of Virginia in 1641, a post he served until 1652. His main initiative was to encourage diversification of Virginia's agricultural products. He accomplished this by passing laws and setting himself as an example for planters. He arrived at Jamestown in 1642 and planted diverse crops on his plantation. During the English Civil War, he offered asylum in Virginia to royalists. He took the post as governor from 1660 to 1677 as well. During this time, he offered an initiative to create a diverse economy, free trade a close-knit colonial society, and autonomy from London. He was "bitterly hostile" to Virginia's Puritans and Quakers. He was also strongly opposed to public education, holding that they would bring "disobedience, heresy, and sects into the world." Berkeley's downfall came with the advent of his second term. He returned from retirement in 1660 due to the early death of Governor Samuel Matthews. At his return, Berkeley appealed to England for financial support of Virginia's economy, which was denied. In 1675, he appointed Nathaniel Bacon to Virginian high office. Slow to act to Indian attacks, Berkeley was soon viewed as incompetent, making his authority easy to undermine. Bacon unexpectedly led 500 armed men into Jamestown and compelled the frightened legislators to appoint him general before he marched away in search of the Indians. On September 19, 1676, Bacon and his followers burned Jamestown to the ground. Once reports of the revolt reached London, the crown sent 1,000 redcoats, ships, and a commission to crush Bacon. The rebellion ended before they arrived in January 1677, three months after Bacon died of a fever. The Treaty of Middle Plantation, the formal peace treaty between the Indians and the colonists, was signed on May 29, 1677, after Berkeley returned to England. Berkeley died in London on July 9, 1677, and he was "buried half a world away from the place that had become his home." Family Berkeley married Frances Culpeper in 1670. The couple left no children.